It was the third election since the new Constitution came into force replacing the Legislative Council (which had existed since 1845) with the Legislative Assembly. As no political parties are active in the Falklands, all the candidates stood as Independents. Incumbent members Jan Cheek, Michael Poole, Phyllis Rendell and Mike Summers did not put their names forward for reelection.[3] Only three members of the previous assembly won reelection, with Ian Hansen being the only incumbent member to increase his percentage of the vote.[2]
Campaign
Under section 32 of the Constitution of the Falkland Islands, a general election did not need to take place until 19 January 2018. However, in August 2017 the Legislative Assembly announced that an early general election was being planned for 9 November 2017 (almost exactly four years after the previous general election of 2013).[1] The closing date for voter registration and applications for postal and proxy votes was noon FKST on 19 October 2017 and the deadline for nomination as a candidate in the election was 16:15 FKST on 20 October 2017.[1]